{"id":14571,"date":"2017-04-25T15:46:59","date_gmt":"2017-04-26T01:46:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14571"},"modified":"2017-04-30T13:50:52","modified_gmt":"2017-04-30T23:50:52","slug":"debito-org-newsletter-april-26-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14571","title":{"rendered":"DEBITO.ORG NEWSLETTER APRIL 26, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Books, eBooks, and more from Dr. Debito Arudou (click on icon):<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/handbook.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11452\" title=\"Guidebookcover.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Guidebookcover.jpg\" alt=\"Guidebookcover.jpg\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/japaneseonly.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11335\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/japaneseonlyebookcovertext-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"japaneseonlyebookcovertext\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/handbook.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-1298\" title=\"Handbook2ndEdcover.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Handbook2ndEdcover.jpg\" alt=\"Handbook for Newcomers, Migrants, and Immigrants to Japan\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/inappropriate.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8577\" title=\"inappropriatecoverthumb150x226\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/inappropriatecoverthumb150x226.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/japaneseonly.html#japanese\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-1700\" title=\"jobookcover\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/jobookcover-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\u300c\u30b8\u30e3\u30d1\u30cb\u30fc\u30ba\u30fb\u30aa\u30f3\u30ea\u30fc\u3000\u5c0f\u6a3d\u5165\u6d74\u62d2\u5426\u554f\u984c\u3068\u4eba\u7a2e\u5dee\u5225\u300d\uff08\u660e\u77f3\u66f8\u5e97\uff09\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cinemabstruso.de\/strawberries\/main.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2735\" title=\"sourstrawberriesavatar\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/sourstrawberriesavatar.jpg\" alt=\"sourstrawberriesavatar\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?cat=32\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4921\" title=\"debitopodcastthumb\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/debitopodcastthumb.jpg\" alt=\"debitopodcastthumb\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=12473\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-12474\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/FodorsJapan2014cover-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"FodorsJapan2014cover\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nUPDATES ON TWITTER: arudoudebito<br \/>\nDEBITO.ORG PODCASTS on iTunes, subscribe free<br \/>\n&#8220;LIKE&#8221; US on Facebook at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/debitoorg\">http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/debitoorg<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embeddedrcsmJapan\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embeddedrcsmJapan<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/handbookimmigrants\">http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/handbookimmigrants<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JapaneseOnlyTheBook\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JapaneseOnlyTheBook<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BookInAppropriate\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BookInAppropriate<\/a><br \/>\nIf you like what you read and discuss on Debito.org, please consider helping us stop hackers and defray maintenance costs with a little donation via my webhoster:<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dreamhost.com\/donate.cgi?id=17701\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/secure.newdream.net\/donate4.gif\" alt=\"Donate towards my web hosting bill!\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<i>All donations go towards website costs only. Thanks for your support!<\/i><\/p>\n<p><strong>DEBITO.ORG NEWSLETTER APRIL 26, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Table of Contents:<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<br \/>\n<strong>IT\u2019S A HARD KNOCK LIFE FOR NJ<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>1) Fukushima Pref Police HQ online poster asking for public vigilantism against \u201cillegal foreign workers, overstayers\u201d<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> 2) Mainichi: 80% believed fake rumors of crime by foreigners in Japan after 3\/11 quake: poll<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> 3) Cautionary tale: Bern on how no protections against harassment in Japan\u2019s universities targets NJ regardless of Japan savviness and skill level<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> 4) Reuters: Japan\u2019s foreign asylum seekers tricked into Fukushima radiation clean-up<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>PROVABLY SO<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> 5) Unprecedented Ministry of Justice survey of NJ discrimination results out, officially quantifies significantly high rates of unequal treatment<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> 6) Japan Times JBC 106: \u201cGovernment, survey thyself\u201d, on unprecedented nationwide poll of NJ on discrimination, with one big blind spot (March 5, 2017)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>AND OFFICIALLY SO<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> 7) Kyodo: \u201cRussian\u2019s conviction for handgun possession dismissed\u201d, due to bent J-cops\u2019 \u201carrest quotas\u201d that illegally entrap NJ<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> 8 ) Yomiuri on \u201cSharp decline in tourist spending\u201d, with GOJ measures to certify NJ in \u201cCool Japan\u201d for preferential visas<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> 9) NHK repeatedly racially profiles prototypical criminal (the only NJ person in a crowd) on TV program Close-Up Gendai, Apr 5, 2017<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> 10) Irish Times: Abe Admin in trouble due to ultranationalistic kindergarten Moritomo Gakuen, its perks, and its anti-Korean\/Chinese racism<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u2026 and finally\u2026<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>11) Japan Times JUST BE CAUSE column 105: \u201cMedia, stop normalizing sumo as an ethno-sport\u201d, Monday, Feb 20, 2017<\/strong><br \/>\n\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<p>By Debito Arudou Ph.D. (debito@debito.org, www.debito.org, Twitter @arudoudebito)<br \/>\nDebito.org Newsletter freely forwardable<\/p>\n<p>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<p><strong>IT\u2019S A HARD KNOCK LIFE FOR NJ<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> 1) Fukushima Pref Police HQ online poster asking for public vigilantism against \u201cillegal foreign workers, overstayers\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Fukushima Prefectural Police HQ poster:<br \/>\n<strong>\u201cPLEASE COOPERATE IN INVESTIGATIONS OF CRIME BY FOREIGNERS COMING TO JAPAN.<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> Nationwide, there are many cases of things like theft and heinous crimes by foreign muggers coming to Japan. In Fukushima Prefecture as well, the following have occurred:<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> 0) Widespread cases of burglaries targeting [including grammatical error of wo tou wo] precious metal shops.<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> 0) Burglaries at pachinko parlors using body-sensitive machines (taikanki) [whatever those are].<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> 0) Cases of auto break-ins.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Submitter XY<\/strong>: <em>\u201cNot only are they perpetuating the stereotype of NJ being criminals, they\u2019re basically asking the public to act as vigilante immigration officers.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>COMMENTS<\/strong>: Well, let\u2019s put this into context with all the other police posters we\u2019ve been cataloging here at Debito.org for many years. We\u2019ve had the local police claiming that many crimes have been committed by foreigners in their area (while we\u2019ve found that at in at least one case, despite police claims of \u201cmany cases\u201d, crimes committed by foreigners were actually ZERO), and once again demonstrating how enlisting the public in racial profiling is their modus operandi.<\/p>\n<p>In Fukushima Prefecture itself, according to the prefectural government, crime has been going steadily down without fail since 2002 (with no mention of foreign crime in the stats; you can bet that it would have been mentioned if it was significant). Foreign crime in Fukushima doesn\u2019t even make the top 80% of all foreign crime committed by prefecture in 2011, the year everything went pear-shaped, according to the Ministry of Justice (see page 58). In the general NPA foreign crime report dated April 2015, Fukushima is only mentioned twice (talking about two individual crimes as case studies illustrative of \u201cwhat foreign criminals do\u201d), without overall crime breakdown by prefecture. And after a fairly exhaustive search, I can\u2019t find ANY recent official stats on foreign crime in Fukushima, either in terms of numbers or rate of change. So I think this is probably just another example of the Japanese police manufacturing a fictitious foreign crime wave.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14559\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14559<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<p><strong>2) Mainichi: 80% believed fake rumors of crime by foreigners in Japan after 3\/11 quake: poll<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>One thing we do here at Debito.org is track and quantify social damage done when media portrays people negatively. We\u2019ve already talked at length about the fabricated foreign crime wave by the NPA since 2000 as a means of justifying police anti-crime budgets (see also book \u201cEmbedded Racism\u201d, Ch. 7), and how flawed and loaded government surveys indicate that the Japanese public believes (moreover are encouraged to believe) that foreigners don\u2019t deserve the same human rights as Japanese humans. Well, here\u2019s another survey, done by a university professor in Sendai, that indicates how unchecked rumors about foreign crime in times of panic (particularly in the wake of the Fukushima Disasters) result in widespread (and unfounded) denigration of foreigners. To the tune of around 80% of survey respondents believing the worst about their NJ neighbors, regardless of the truth. SITYS. It\u2019s the \u201cblame game\u201d all over again, except that only in rare cases does the government actually step in to right things before, during, or afterwards.<\/p>\n<p>As Submitter JK notes: <em>\u201cOf interest is Professor Kwak\u2019s statement that \u201cFalse rumors commonly surface in the event of a major earthquake, and it is no easy task to erase them. Rather, each person needs to acquire the ability to judge them\u201d. Given the result of his survey in Shinjuku-ku, it\u2019s obvious that people lack the critical reasoning skills needed to separate fact from fiction (especially when disaster strikes), so this leads to me believe that trying to erase false rumors post-ex-facto is a fool\u2019s errand \u2014 the \u2018rumor\u2019 that *needs* to be spread is that foreigners, specifically Chinese, Koreans and people from Southeast Asia are *NOT* looters, thieves, damagers of corpses (whatever that is), or rapists. In other words, what needs to happen to get the headline to read \u201cOnly 20% believed fake rumors of crime by foreigners in Japan after quake\u201d?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Quite. Once the damage is done, it\u2019s done. Social media needs to be carefully monitored in times of public panic, especially in Japanese society, with a long history of blaming foreigners for whatever, whenever disaster strikes, sometimes with lethal results.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14521\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14521<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<p><strong>3) Cautionary tale: Bern on how no protections against harassment in Japan\u2019s universities targets NJ regardless of Japan savviness and skill level<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a crie du coeur from an academic I respect mightily named Bern. He has spent umpteen years in Japan\u2019s higher education, both at the faculty and the Dean level (there have been very few NJ Deans ever in Japan\u2019s universities), and has complete fluency in reading, writing, and spoken Japanese. Yet even after all his work acculturating and developing the same (if not greater) job skills as native speakers, he could not avoid institutional harassment. As he says below, \u201cuntil harassment and discrimination laws are clarified and given real teeth\u201d in Japan, all NJ faculty and staff are at risk.<\/p>\n<p>And I speak from personal experience that this can happen to anyone. For NJ educators\u2019 mental and vocational integrity, due consideration should be taken before ever considering a career in Japanese academia. Someday I\u2019ll give an opinion piece about why Japan\u2019s positions for NJ academics are, quite simply, a hoax, and why Japanese educational institutions should be avoided, full stop. But not yet. Meanwhile, here\u2019s Bern:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14552\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14552<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<p><strong>4) Reuters: Japan\u2019s foreign asylum seekers tricked into Fukushima radiation clean-up<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a scoop involving several layers of odious. It\u2019s not just a matter of Japan\u2019s poor or homeless (or other foreigners) being exploited for dangerous and life-threatening jobs cleaning up the radioactive mess in Fukushima. Now Japan\u2019s government is quite possibly complicit in tricking foreign ASYLUM SEEKERS into doing the dirty work, for the sake of being granted extensions to their visa (which turned out to be \u201ca false promise\u201d). All this under conditions where, according to the Reuters article below, \u201cmore than half of the 1,020 companies involved in decontamination violated labor and safety laws\u201d. Further, as submitter JDG notes, \u201cAsylum seekers in Japan tricked into doing nuclear decontamination work in Fukushima because when they get over-dosed on radiation and contaminated, the J-gov can always reject their asylum applications and deport them after all, right?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As Debito.org has noted before, there is a metaphorical radioactivity to Fukushima that overwhelms law and order and corrodes all sense, bringing out the corrupt criminal underbelly of Japan\u2019s bureaucratic and political worlds. Fukushima\u2019s running-sore of an issue has undermined all integrity at the eventual expense of lives, particularly those of the most powerless in society. Six years after the event, the whitewashing of the issue continues.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14518\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14518<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<p><strong>PROVABLY SO<br \/>\n5) Unprecedented Ministry of Justice survey of NJ discrimination results out, officially quantifies significantly high rates of unequal treatment<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Japan Times: <em><strong>\u201cRent application denials, Japanese-only recruitment and racist taunts are among the most rampant forms of discrimination faced by foreign residents in Japan, according to the results of the country\u2019s first nationwide survey on the issue, released Friday. The unprecedented survey of 18,500 expats of varying nationalities at the end of last year paints a comprehensive picture of deeply rooted discrimination in Japan as the nation struggles to acclimate to a recent surge in foreign residents and braces for an even greater surge in tourists in the lead-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It also represents the latest in a series of fledgling steps taken by Japan to curb racism, following last year\u2019s first-ever video analysis by the Justice Ministry of anti-Korea demonstrations and the enactment of a law to eradicate hate speech.[\u2026]<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>&#8220;The study found that 39.3 percent of 2,044 respondents who applied to rent apartments over the past five years got dismissed because they are not Japanese. In addition, 41.2 percent said they were turned down because they couldn\u2019t secure a Japanese guarantor, while 26.8 percent said they quit their pursuit of a new domicile after being discouraged by a \u201cJapanese-only\u201d prerequisite. Workplace discrimination appears rife, too. Of the 4,252 respondents, 2,788 said they had either worked or sought employment in Japan over the past five years. Of them, 25.0 percent said they had experienced being brushed off by potential employers because they are non-Japanese, while 19.6 percent said they were paid lower than their Japanese co-workers\u2026&#8221;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14528\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14528<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<p><strong>6) Japan Times JBC 106: \u201cGovernment, survey thyself\u201d, on unprecedented nationwide poll of NJ on discrimination, with one big blind spot (March 5, 2017)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>JBC 106: <em><strong>Something landmark happened late last year. Japan\u2019s government undertook a nationwide survey of discrimination toward Japan\u2019s long-term non-Japanese (NJ) residents.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>The Foreign Residents Survey (FRS), drawn up in 13 languages, was randomly mailed last November to 18,500 NJ residents. It was widely dispersed \u2014 to about 500 names per local government.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Good. We need hard data about the breadth and depth of discrimination to deal with it. However, previous government surveys analyzed in this column (e.g., \u201cHuman rights survey stinks,\u201d Zeit Gist, Oct. 23, 2007) had serious methodological problems. And afterwards, thanks to attention in The Japan Times, they were amended (Source: Embedded Racism p 243 fn 140). Many thanks.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>So how is the survey this time? Much better. But it still needs work due to an enormous blind spot\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14506\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14506<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<p><strong>AND OFFICIALLY SO<br \/>\n7) Kyodo: \u201cRussian\u2019s conviction for handgun possession dismissed\u201d, due to bent J-cops\u2019 \u201carrest quotas\u201d that illegally entrap NJ<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Kyodo: <em><strong>\u201cFollowing new testimony from a former police inspector about a Russian man who was caught in an illegal police sting operation, a court Tuesday overturned his 1998 conviction for handgun possession\u2026 [Plaintiff] Novosyolov was arrested in November 1997 at the port of Otaru in western Hokkaido for possessing a handgun and was found guilty of violating the firearms control law by the district court in August 1998. He had been seeking a retrial, claiming he was the victim of an illegal operation by the Hokkaido police. [\u2026]<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u201cAt the time of Novosyolov\u2019s arrest, police officers had been assigned a quota to confiscate illegal guns following a series of sniper shootings targeting key figures in Japan. Police officers instructed an informant to encourage foreigners to bring firearms to Japan as part of efforts to meet the quota. Novosyolov was arrested in the process of exchanging the handgun.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>COMMENTS: As the article alludes, entrapment is illegal in Japan. Japanese police are not allowed to catch criminals by engaging in criminal activity themselves. Which is why Japanese doing illegal things overseas act rather indignant (as opposed to penitent) when being caught by, for example, American sting operations. That\u2019s why this case should have been thrown out of court, at least in Japanese jurisprudence \u2014 the ill-gotten evidence was inadmissible. And doubly so when the cops are pressuring themselves to nail NJ just to fulfill a \u201cquota\u201d. Triply so when the cop who trapped him and later came clean, Inaba Yoshiaki, was himself a druggie. (Hokkaido cops are actually pretty famous for being bent, see here and here; and as I discovered for myself here and here.)<\/p>\n<p>And something closer to my heart: This took place in Otaru, my old stomping ground, and the site of the \u201cJapanese Only\u201d racist bathhouses that resulted in the landmark Otaru Onsens Case. Otaru cops are also rather famous for their arrogance, conducting spot Gaijin Card checks just to alleviate their own boredom (my first one happened there in 1987, shortly after I first arrived), so to me this is all within character. Congrats to Novosyolov for getting sprung. But I doubt this will result in any reforms to the system that illegally entraps NJ for sport.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14514\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14514<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<p><strong>8 ) Yomiuri on \u201cSharp decline in tourist spending\u201d, with GOJ measures to certify NJ in \u201cCool Japan\u201d for preferential visas<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Debito.org Reader JK sends articles that indicate that the Japanese Government wants tourists to come in and spend more money (without doing the legal groundwork necessary to stop them being discriminated against), and is willing to bribe the NJ already here with preferential visas if they get certified in \u201cCool Japan\u201d, i.e., become shills. Kinda smart in terms of incentive systems, but very cynical \u2014 and those critical of Japan, of course, need not apply. The pressure to unquestionably \u201clike\u201d Japan is already omnipresent, and now reinforced as public policy.<\/p>\n<p>Yomiuri: <em><strong>While a record 24 million-plus foreign tourists came to Japan last year, spending per person dropped sharply in 2016, according to the Japan Tourism Agency. Fewer foreign visitors are engaging in extravagant shopping sprees, so figuring out how to use Japan\u2019s charms to increase tourism outside major metropolitan areas and encourage longer stays is becoming an issue. [\u2026] The increase in the number of tourists pushed overall spending to a record \u00a53.75 trillion, but per-person spending was down 11.5 percent from the previous year to \u00a5155,896, the largest drop ever recorded. Behind the decline was the yen\u2019s appreciation from the previous year, as well as a change in the purpose of travel from \u201cconsumption\u201d through shopping and other means, to trips aimed at \u201cexperiencing things\u201d such as nature and culture. The government hopes to raise per-person spending to \u00a5200,000 by 2020.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Yomiuri: <em><strong>The government is considering establishing a certification test for assessing the competency and know-how of foreigners engaged in activities related to the \u201cCool Japan\u201d initiative, such as anime and fashion. The aim is to accept more of these foreigners into National Strategic Special Zones, according to sources. The government intends to relax the requirements for obtaining resident status for candidates who meet certain competency criteria and conditions. The plan is aimed at foreign students graduating from Japanese vocational schools, the sources said. By creating a friendly working environment for foreigners with strong interests in Japanese culture, the government aims to increase the number of foreigners with an intimate familiarity with Japan. They could then serve as informal bridges for future exchanges between Japan and their home countries. [\u2026] The working group is considering allowing foreigners to obtain certification to stay in Japan for several years, the sources said.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14473\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14473<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<p><strong>9) NHK repeatedly racially profiles prototypical criminal (the only NJ person in a crowd) on TV program Close-Up Gendai, Apr 5, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>JF: <em>Just watched today\u2019s Close Up Gendai on NHK, [\u201cCan smartphones steal fingerprints?\u3000The over-transceiving society has arrived\u201d]. Topic was how biometric data from pictures and security cameras can be used and abused. While the experts were taking, during the entire program, they kept on showing relevant clips in the background. One of the clips shows how a face recognition system picks a criminal from a group of faces in a public place. Sure enough, among the group of Asian faces, there is one Western-looking foreigner, who happens to be \u201cblacklisted\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Please see attached picture taken from my TV. As reinforcement of the image linking foreigners to crime, I counted our \u201cblacklisted\u201d gaikokujin friend reappearing on continuous loop 6x, but I may have missed some as I just skimmed it. One in the beginning, two more in-between and the rest in the last 5 minutes when they had the discussion in the studio, including one at the very end. What does this, on a subconscious level, suggest to the Japanese audience?? Not sure if you know somebody at NHK, they should be more sensitive about these things!<\/p>\n<p><strong>COMMENT<\/strong>: It\u2019s an interesting program in terms of content and execution, but how far the mighty have fallen. Close-Up Gendai was one of those programs you could count on for at least trying to strike a reasonable balance. Clearly not anymore. Especially after the purges of the show to reflect NHK\u2019s hostile takeover by political leaders who explicitly (as a matter of officially-stated policy) can only act as the government\u2019s mouthpiece. Okay then, if that\u2019s the way you want it. Here again we have more evidence of latent racial profiling as probable representations of government policy \u2014 NJ are more likely to be criminals (if not terrorists \u2014 watch from minute 18:30), all over again. Beware of them in a crowd!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14539\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14539<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<p><strong>10) Irish Times: Abe Admin in trouble due to ultranationalistic kindergarten Moritomo Gakuen, its perks, and its anti-Korean\/Chinese racism<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a story that people have been talking about for quite some time in the Comments section of Debito.org (but sandbagged by other projects, I haven\u2019t quite gotten to until now, thanks to this good round-up article by Dr. David McNeill): Schools fostering ultra-rightist narratives even from a kindergarten age (in this case, the Moritomo Gakuen Case in Osaka, with its former honorary principal being PM Abe\u2019s wife).<\/p>\n<p>One thing I\u2019ve always wondered about these nationalistic schools designed to instill \u201clove of country\u201d and enforce patriotism from an early age (which are, actually, not a new phenomenon, see also here): How are they supposed to deal with students who are of mixed heritage, or of foreign descent? As Japan\u2019s multiethnic Japanese citizen population continues to grow thanks to international marriage, are these students also to be taught that love of country means only one country? Or that if they are of mixed roots, that they can only \u201clove\u201d one side?<\/p>\n<p>This sort of jingoism should be on its way out of any developed society in this increasingly globalizing world. But, alas, as PM Abe toadies up to Trump, I\u2019m sure the former will find plenty of things to point at going on in the USA to justify Japan\u2019s renewed exclusionism, and \u201cputting Japan first\u201d through a purity narrative. Still, as seen below, the glimmer of hope is the charge that this school\u2019s funny financial dealings (and their anointment of Abe\u2019s wife as \u201chonorary principal\u201d) might in fact be the thing that brings down the Abe Administration (if it does, I\u2019ll begin to think that Japan\u2019s parliamentary system is actually healthier than the US\u2019s Executive Branch). And that Japan\u2019s hate speech law has in fact bitten down on their racist activities. An interesting case study in progress.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14500\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14500<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u2026 and finally\u2026<\/em><br \/>\n11) Japan Times JUST BE CAUSE column 105: \u201cMedia, stop normalizing sumo as an ethno-sport\u201d, Monday, Feb 20, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>JT JBC 105: <em><strong>Congratulations to Kisenosato last month for ascending to yokozuna, sumo wrestling\u2019s highest rank. After all your efforts, well done. So what does JBC have to say about it? Nothing to diminish that achievement, of course. But how the event echoed overseas was significant. Let\u2019s consider these misleading and exclusionary headlines from prominent news outlets (BBC, Guardian, Washington Post, NYT, and even the JT), which are having the effect of exporting domestically-normalized attitudes of racism from an overtly exclusionary ethno-sport. And when you read the text of the articles themselves, their embedded racism becomes even clearer. Why are foreign correspondents exporting racism just because it emanates from Japan?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14492\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=14492<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s all for this month. Thanks for reading! Debito<\/p>\n<p><strong>DEBITO.ORG NEWSLETTER APRIL 26, 2017 ENDS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<br \/>\n<em>Do you like what you read on Debito.org? \u00a0Want to help keep the archive active and support Debito.org&#8217;s activities? \u00a0Please consider donating a little something. \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=13748\">More details here<\/a>. Or even click on an ad below.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Table of Contents:<br \/>\nIT\u2019S A HARD KNOCK LIFE FOR NJ<br \/>\n1) Fukushima Pref Police HQ online poster asking for public vigilantism against \u201cillegal foreign workers, overstayers\u201d<br \/>\n2) Mainichi: 80% believed fake rumors of crime by foreigners in Japan after 3\/11 quake: poll<br \/>\n3) Cautionary tale: Bern on how no protections against harassment in Japan\u2019s universities targets NJ regardless of Japan savviness and skill level<br \/>\n4) Reuters: Japan\u2019s foreign asylum seekers tricked into Fukushima radiation clean-up<\/p>\n<p>PROVABLY SO<br \/>\n5) Unprecedented Ministry of Justice survey of NJ discrimination results out, officially quantifies significantly high rates of unequal treatment<br \/>\n6) Japan Times JBC 106: \u201cGovernment, survey thyself\u201d, on unprecedented nationwide poll of NJ on discrimination, with one big blind spot (March 5, 2017)<\/p>\n<p>AND OFFICIALLY SO<br \/>\n7) Kyodo: \u201cRussian\u2019s conviction for handgun possession dismissed\u201d, due to bent J-cops\u2019 \u201carrest quotas\u201d that illegally entrap NJ<br \/>\n8 ) Yomiuri on \u201cSharp decline in tourist spending\u201d, with GOJ measures to certify NJ in \u201cCool Japan\u201d for preferential visas<br \/>\n9) NHK repeatedly racially profiles prototypical criminal (the only NJ person in a crowd) on TV program Close-Up Gendai, Apr 5, 2017<br \/>\n10) Irish Times: Abe Admin in trouble due to ultranationalistic kindergarten Moritomo Gakuen, its perks, and its anti-Korean\/Chinese racism<br \/>\n\u2026 and finally\u2026<br \/>\n11) Japan Times JUST BE CAUSE column 105: \u201cMedia, stop normalizing sumo as an ethno-sport\u201d, Monday, Feb 20, 2017<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsletters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14571\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}